SAN FRANCISCO — Voters approved a law intended to sweep the sidewalks clean of vagrants, and an attempt to sabotage the sit-lie ordinance failed along with a measure to politicize police officer foot patrols.
Proposition L makes it illegal to sit or lie on sidewalks citywide from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. The law is tailored to allow officers to move people loitering or blocking sidewalks and businesses. They must issue a warning before they give a citation, and for those who refuse to move along, police can make an arrest.

Undressing in public will likely no longer go unpunished in San Francisco, as the Board of Supervisors voted by the barest of margins Tuesday to ban public nudity. Derided by nudity defenders as an attack on personal expression and supported by others who've had enough of seeing those who let it all hang out, the legislation bans genital exposure on all city sidewalks, plazas, parklets, streets and public transit.

Telling a lie on public sidewalks in San Francisco would be prohibited under legislation proposed Tuesday by Supervisor Chris Daly, with repeat "fish stories" carrying a maximum penalty of $500 and 30 days in jail, though San Franciscans would be free to bear false witness elsewhere, such as parks, public buildings, and City Hall.

The Board of Supervisors just banned toys in Happy Meals, which drew worldwide attention.

Now the latest ban being proposed in San Francisco is on male circumcision.

A proposed ballot measure for the November 2011 ballot – when voters will be electing the San Francisco’s next mayor – would amend The City’s police code “to make it a misdemeanor to circumcise, excise, cut or mutilate the foreskin, testicle or penis of another person who has not attained the age of 18."

Police officers in Seattle, Washington held their first gun buyback program in 20 years this weekend, underneath interstate 5, and soon found that private gun collectors were working the large crowd as little makeshift gun shows began dotting the parking lot and sidewalks. Some even had “cash for guns” signs prominently displayed.

The American Civil Liberties Union has sued a Utah city in federal court over a "free-speech zone" ordinance, saying the Orwellian-named measure unconstitutionally requires a permit for almost any form of public expression. "Under this ordinance, you would arguably have to apply for a permit to engage in nearly any speech in the city," he said.

The DHS admits that the § 102-74.420 does not “prohibit individuals from photographing (including motion photography) the exterior of federal courthouses from publicly accessible spaces, such as streets, sidewalks, parks and plazas; and FPS has not construed any other federal regulation or federal statute to prohibit such photography of the exterior of federal courthouses, though it makes no representation about local rules or orders.”

Canadian municipalities are starting to ban people from using longboards on streets and sidewalks. The border town of White Rock, B.C. says they are doing it because a 27-year-old longboarder was killed this summer in a neighboring town AND because senior citizens told the mayor they are scared of the longboarders.

Asheville, NC--The Citizen-Times of Asheville reported Saturday that a recent city council vote allows city workers to issue $50 fines to residents and business owners who fail to remove snow from their sidewalks. The fines can be issued daily until the sidewalk is cleared up to a maximum of $5,000.